The IT industry has not felt the fallout of the credit crunch to the extent that some other industry sectors have, but IT staff are beginning to grow anxious about their job security, according to a recent survey by IT recruitment firm InterQuest.

In February 2008, only nine percent of IT contractors voiced concerns about their current or future job. The new survey shows that four times as many contractors are now concerned about the security of their jobs.

The survey has also revealed that companies are now making more job cuts. One in three companies reported redundancies, which is a 20 percent increase since February.

However, more than a half (52 percent) of the respondents agreed that information technology was more secure than other industry sectors.

“Despite the economic doom and gloom of the past year, the IT sector has been pretty robust. While other industries fell victim to job cuts and declining profits, IT remained resilient. The results of our survey show it is only now that we are feeling the effects of the credit crunch,” said Gary Ashworth, executive chairman of InterQuest.

He also pointed out that IT “is at the very heart of business – companies simply cannot survive without it and this survey demonstrates that IT professionals understand this point.”

Even though the IT sector is feeling the effects of the crunch these days, Ashworth says that, since IT was among the last fields to be affected by it, it will also be “one of the first areas to pick up again when the economy revives, so contractors are right to remain confident."